Stock · Saratov, Saratov Oblast, Russia
When to sow stocks in Saratov
Main outdoor window
13 Apr - 4 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
27 April
In Saratov, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
2 Jul - 1 Aug
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Saratov
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Start indoors
2-23 Mar
Eight weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Plant out
13 Apr - 4 May
Two weeks before your last frost.
In flower
2 Jul - 1 Aug
Stocks through the year
Against the frost risk in Saratov
Why these dates
Start indoors eight weeks before the last frost and plant out two weeks before it. Stocks need cool nights, below about 15C, for several weeks to initiate flower spikes, so early planting is not optional - a late-planted stock grows into a leafy plant that never blooms.
Hardy to about -8C. In zone 8 and warmer the sensible approach is autumn planting for late-winter flowers, and in hot climates it is a winter crop only.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Stocks are timed from 8 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Saratov.
Saratov sits in zone 4b, which is colder than this crop is rated for, so it will need winter protection or a container that can be moved under cover. The dates below still describe the right time of year; the open question is survival rather than timing.
The median frost-free season here is 168 days, against 80 to 110 days to first flower for this crop counted from planting out. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Saratov
Other flowers to time
Growing stocks in Saratov
When should I plant stocks in Saratov?
Aim for 13 Apr - 4 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 22 Apr - 13 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will stocks be ready to harvest in Saratov?
Expect to start picking around 2 Jul - 1 Aug, based on 80 to 110 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will stocks tolerate?
Hardy to about -8C. In zone 8 and warmer the sensible approach is autumn planting for late-winter flowers, and in hot climates it is a winter crop only.